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Michigan State vs. Wisconsin recap: Wild finishes have become a staple of this underrated rivalry

Michigan State picked up an overtime win on the road against Wisconsin in the third straight game between these teams that went down to the wire.

Mike Carter-US PRESSWIRE

In the last three games between the Michigan State Spartans and Wisconsin Badgers, the games haven't been decided until the final minutes.

During the regular season last year, Michigan State won on a Hail Mary from Kirk Cousins that was caught by Keith Nichol as time expired. In the Big 10 Championship game, Wisconsin escaped the a 3-point win after a late roughing the punter penalty in the final minutes erased a punt return by Michigan State inside of Wisconsin's 10-yard line that could've put the Spartans in position for a game-tying or winning score.

On Saturday, the Badgers led most of the game, but Michigan State's defense kept the score close, and the offense finally got it going a bit late, allowing Michigan State to tie the game and then win it in overtime. Michigan State blog The Only Colors said the game was just more evidence that this has blossomed into one of the country's best rivalries:

Wisconsin and MSU may not have much history together in football, but it appears the recent competitiveness of the programs in basketball is propagating - and so is the penchant for last-second finishes.

We all know about the two crazy finishes last year ("Rocket" and "Running Into the Kicker"). Today, if you'd predicted a game-tying drive out of nowhere after the MSU offense spent three and a half quarters running in neutral (or worse, on occasion), you would have been laughed out of the game thread, but that's exactly what happened.

The win improved Michigan State's record to 5-4 and 2-3 in the Big Ten Legends Division.